Stoughton singer and songwriter Lori McKenna nominated for four Grammys

Sunday

Feb 12, 2017 at 2:00 PMFeb 13, 2017 at 5:05 PM

Dana Barbuto The Patriot Ledger

If Stoughton’s Lori McKenna receives the Grammy for Best Country Song this weekend, she’ll be the first songwriter to win back-to-back awards in that category since 1999.

McKenna, one of Nashville’s premier songwriters, is up for a total of four Grammy’s – including Best Country Song for penning Tim McGraw’s No. 1 hit, “Humble and Kind.” It won Song of the Year at the Country Music Awards in November and has been certified platinum. Its music video also won Video of the Year at the 2016 Country Music Television Awards in June.

McKenna won the Grammy Award last year for co-writing Little Big Town’s smash “Girl Crush.” Coincidentally, McKenna is competing against her best friend and “Girl Crush” co-writer, Hillary Lindsey, who wrote Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color.”

“It’s just insane,” McKenna said. “I slept over at her house last night and we were talking about it. It’s really such a blessing to be at the Grammys again and to have the experience with my best friend. We’re rooting for each other.”

McKenna also landed nominations for best Americana Album for “The Bird & the Rifle,” American Roots Performance, and American Roots Song for “Wreck You.”

A mother of five children ranging in age from 12 to 27, McKenna said “Humble and Kind” was inspired by her offspring.

“It’s just a list of things that I want them to know. They never listen to what I’m saying, so I figured that I’d write it down,” McKenna said.

“Tim made it into something so much bigger than I ever imagined,” McKenna said. “It’s very surreal.”

Thursday’s blizzard blocked McKenna from traveling from Nashville to Stoughton. Instead, she’ll fly straight to Los Angeles. Her husband, Gene, will meet her in California.

“We thought about bringing the kids, but it turned out to be too hard to orchestrate all of that,” McKenna said.

Look for McKenna in a simple black, one-shoulder, floor-length gown.

“My husband had to pack for me. I had him on FaceTime showing him which shoes and strapless bra to pack,” McKenna said, laughing. “Luckily, I knew where everything was.”

Even with a pair of blockbuster songs under her belt, McKenna said she still feels uncool in the eyes of her children.

“Every time my youngest puts a song on our Alexa, he says, ‘play Blue Ain’t Your Color.’ And then I remind him that I wrote ‘Humble and Kind’ for him and he always replies, ‘This is a better song.’ So I cannot convince them that I’m cool.”

The last back-to-back winners of Best Country Song were Robert John “Mutt” Lange and Shania Twain for “You’re Still the One” (1998) and “Come on Over” (1999).

Dana Barbuto is the features editor at our sister paper in Quincy, The Patriot Ledger. She may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.